The true meaning of AI is to amplify human potential - Dr. Ayesha Khanna
Dinheiro Vivo | by Ana Rita Guerra | 4th May 2019
Ayesha Khanna: "The true meaning of AI is to amplify human potential"
By betting on artificial intelligence, it is possible to build a better and more accessible world for all, believes the CEO of Addo AI.
A specialist in artificial intelligence (AI), Ayesha Khanna talks about the challenges of the future.
What steps should we take to ensure that technology does not create winners and losers?
The best way to ensure that an AI-empowered economy is fair and creates more opportunities for companies and individuals to improve their lives is to give them access to AI education. For small businesses, this means subsidizing their infrastructure in the cloud and the use of IA tools; for individuals, teach them the basics of AI and how to collaborate with computer teams to develop innovative products and services. And for the citizens, include them in the debates on how, when and where the AI should be exercised. For such a transformative technology, everyone must have basic literacy and not only know how to use machine learning for individual benefits, but to appreciate and mitigate risks to society.
Can AI reduce the gap between emerging and developed countries?
One of the reasons that inspire me to be in the field of AI is that it democratizes access to basic services for the emerging middle class. According to the Financial Times, five people climb the middle class every second, most in Asia. However, urban infrastructure and services such as education, transportation and health are very poorly prepared for this mass migration to cities. Using IA, we can optimize transport networks and reduce the carbon footprint, we can use IA wizards to help give a good education to thousands of people via mobile phone. And improve infrastructure maintenance using sensor-based predictive analytics.
Should the AI be regulated by an international body?
Because millions of people will be affected by AI, it is imperative to have governance to prevent the manipulation of societies and individuals. Singapore has an exemplary model with the governance structure that guides organizations in government and AI implementation in a man-centered fashion, while encouraging innovation in the economy. The country won the World Summit on the Information Society award for management and ethics work for AI. In my company, we follow these guidelines and emphasize the "safety first" culture for IA engines, which covers three areas: cybersecurity, data privacy, and ethics.
How can people prepare for a future in which automation will eliminate millions of jobs?
People need to feel they have power in a future in which we live with intelligent, visible and invisible machines. Without knowledge, people are unfairly left in ignorance about the implications of a changing job market. In order to acquire skills and adapt to new types of jobs in the future, we need to raise awareness and educate everyone about how AI will affect the economy.
Will AI allow us to work less and be more productive, or are ideas like that of Jack Ma working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week?
What we seek is always meaningful work - which may be hard, but satisfies our intellectual curiosities and is a means to creative aspirations. The question is: does AI bring us closer to meaningful work? I believe that the true meaning of AI is precisely this: to amplify human potential. However, to achieve this goal, you need to teach people how to use AI to increase productivity and imagination. It's a combination of delegating routine tasks to AI and using it to gain insight and design new products. Depending on the type of project and preferences, the job may take a few or many hours.
What innovations do you anticipate?
We live in times of great potential to improve people's lives: using AI, we can improve health care through prevention, detection and treatment of diseases; the proliferation of a number of mobile services (education, transportation, finance) - all industries will have disruption with AI and digitization; and improve crop yields through a combination of deep learning and satellite imagery, and improve logistics through route optimization and blockchain use to prevent food theft and waste. If used properly, we will see a more equitable and sustainable world.
